Moldova uncovers scheme to illegally export military aircraft components to Russia

Moldova's Information and Security Service and the Prosecutor's Office for Combating Organised Crime and Special Cases have dismantled a scheme for the illegal export of dual-use goods to Russia. The total value of the shipments is estimated at around €1 million.

Source: European Pravda, citing NewsMaker

Details: According to the authorities, the products were supplied to companies linked to Russia's military industry and subject to international sanctions.

The shipments under investigation are worth more than MDL 21 million (around €1 million).

The investigators say that since 2022, a Moldovan company has likely been exporting control and measurement systems for electrical signals from sensors. These systems are used in the engines of the Yak-130 combat trainer aircraft and the Su-27 fighter jet. The total value of the exports amounted to around MDL 21 million.

According to law enforcement, the company declared the exports as "waste processing equipment" in customs documents in an attempt to conceal the true nature of the goods and mislead customs authorities. The company also failed to obtain the licences required for exporting dual-use goods.

The investigators believe the company's representatives established a firm in Russia to conceal the identity of the end recipient. Through this intermediary, they imported the products before handing them over to an organisation linked to the Russian military-industrial complex and itself subject to international sanctions.

Law enforcement also says the company's representatives directly coordinated technical documentation, specifications and test results with the recipient in Russia.

On 24 June, Moldovan officers and prosecutors carried out six searches. They seized components of the control and measurement systems, computer equipment, mobile phones, technical documentation and contracts considered important to the investigation.

The investigators will examine the seized documents and equipment as part of the criminal case. The investigation is ongoing.

Background:

• A court in Belgium recently convicted and sentenced a man with Russian and Belgian citizenship to five years' imprisonment for exporting dual-use goods to Russia.
• Earlier, a Russian businessman was sentenced to more than three years in prison in Estonia for violating sanctions.

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